


i will always hold you close

by gaymabelpines



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, also theres gonna b background lupcretia laaatteer, bc im? gay? fuck you?, i mean i do love ya barold but cmon, i really wanted this to be canon but noooooo we got the bluejeans man, is julia the lover or the protector i have no idea both work and both also work for magnus here lmao, only part time major char death, there is an order to this tho and i am postin in order dw, this mainly focuses on my boy maggie and also julia tho, this was supposed to b all one chapter but im impatient and just wanna post what i want when i want
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2018-11-18 23:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11300685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaymabelpines/pseuds/gaymabelpines
Summary: things don't change as much as you think they do(work title and chapter titles from "light" by sleeping at last)





	1. the unimaginable light inside

The world stopped.

Lucas’ lecture in his nasally voice had stopped mid-sentence, a question unasked. Killian was frozen solid in an impatient stance, arms crossed, eyes skeptical of what exactly the pale, red-headed scientist was going on about. Her girlfriend, Carey, held a similar stance, hands on her hips, but had a bright, curious look on her face at the circular gemstones above. Noelle, their newfound robotic friend, had stopped mid-float, and was suspended about six feet in the air. The three men looked around at their stone-still comrades, confused and surprised, but not scared, because there was a presence in the room that felt familiar and welcome, but none of them could place why.

Then a voice, deep and gravelly and distant, like a radio station that you can’t quite tune into, resonated from behind them and through the frozen room, asking the unasked question.

“What’s bigger than this?”

“Oh, Pan, if they’ve got a rain coat on I’m not turning around!” snapped Merle immediately, as Magnus was already turning around, announcing it as he did so. The other two followed.

It was them. The red robe. Floating a few feet away from them in midair at eye level, black smoke emitting from the inside of the scarlet cloak. 

Faceless as it was, Magnus couldn’t shake the feeling that it was focusing on him specifically. He moved to attack it with his axe. The red robe made no move, too surprised that the fighter had made a move to attack them. The weapon passed right through the figure, and Magnus turned right around and attacked again, once again achieving the same result. Taako watched lazily, but his hand was still on his umbrastaff, ready to pull it up and attack at any moment. Merle was picking his nose with his new wooden hand, unimpressed. 

“Oh well, okay….” started the red robe, but then faded off as Magnus stuck his head into it, and waggled his fingers, making a ridiculous face, tongue hanging out of his mouth, smile wide.

“Oh, ho ho!! I’m a red robe!” he joked, a wide grin spread across his brown, freckled face, which was responded with laughter from his companions. And, a new set of laughter from above. Magnus stepped out, suddenly serious. He looked above him at the red robe, who was……… laughing. The red robe was laughing, hand over where their mouth would be, and it was a laugh that was so achingly familiar but by god Magnus couldn’t place why. He started to back away, and moved into position with his friends, who had also stopped laughing and were watching this spectral form.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you,” the red robe said to Magnus, their voice soft, more human, “You always know how to make things right. But things are not right anymore- I spoke to you about the hunger of all living things.”

Their hand then fell away from their mouth and reached out, gesturing to the planar system, represented by the Cosmoscope.

“This- this hunger, it seeks power- the power of creation, specifically. A billion, billion lives have been destroyed, devoured by this hunger in it’s search for power.”

“A billion, billion?” asked Merle, his arms crossed, a skeptical look upon his face. 

“Yes,” confirmed the red robe.

“That’s a lot,” said Magnus.

“It is,” affirms the red robe, a softness creeping back into their voice. Taking one of their hands, they give a little wave and the three men hear a crash. Turning around, a sort of trash bin had fallen over, filled with gemstones, now all spilled out on the white tiled laboratory floor. Some of these stones were broken, others came out in the shape of a perfect square or a triangle or octagon, others were lumps without any rhyme or reason, yet some were in perfect circles. One of these perfect circle gems- black opal, dark and mysterious with glitters of red, blue, and green- rose up from the pile, summoned by the red robe. It floated over to the lich, and stopped, facing the Cosmoscope. 

A shadow- an overpowering darkness- then comes from the opal. The darkness moves in a quick, billowing, fashion, and the reclaimers could have sworn they saw hands reaching from it, hands reaching from the darkness and grabbing, oh gods, those hands were grabbing the other gems, the other gems which showed a window into the other planes, the hands were grabbing the other planes and next thing the reclaimers knew the darkness was encompassing the planes and there was screaming, oh gods was that screaming, oh gods the people within the planes were screaming and the darkness was there just consuming and consuming and consuming and then-  
-silence.

All the gems representing the planes were gone, consumed by the hunger of the black opal.

(A sick feeling settled in Magnus’s gut, as if to say “you failed,” but Magnus couldn’t place what he failed at.)

“It’s over,” finally spoke the red robe, “we- there’s no more running, no more escapes, no more close calls, no more- just no more. This world- this life? This is reality’s last chance.”

“Who are you?” asked Magnus.

“You already know.”

“I obviously do not!” (Merle and Taako chuckled at this in the background.)

“I’ll tell you in episode 57.”

“Sounds fair.”

“Take care, boys,” and with that, the red robe disappears, the clock starts ticking again, the Cosmoscope is still there, perfectly circular gems sparkling in the harsh fluorescent lighting, Carey and Killian still looking skeptical, Noel still floating, and Lucas finishes his sentence, the annoying, nasally voice echoing throughout the room, repeating the unasked question.

“What’s bigger than this?”


	2. i'll give you everything i have

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know the cycle where lup became a lich? i think canon said it was cycle 65 but, c'mon, cycle 69 would have been a whole lot more fun. i fixed it for u griff, u can thank me later in the form a check. kisses!

It was officially cycle 69, and things had been going fucking great. 

No, that wasn't sarcasm- things literally had been going fucking great! Lup and Lucretia had finally gotten together after nearly fifty years of pining, confirming that lesbians were useless, they had found the Light of Creation early this year, and Fisher was growing up healthy and happy. Honestly- and he didn't care if he might be jinxing it now- Magnus thought that nothing could go wrong. He and Julia were snuggled up on the couch together, her curled up against him akin to a cat and he resting his scruffy chin against her soft curly hair. She was reading some magazine on fashion tips that she'd stolen from the twins probably, and he was only half paying attention to the contents, moreso just happy to be close to her. Lucretia sat across from him on a different couch, sketching in her journal. Fisher was sitting at her feet, fiddling and cooing over a wooden duck decorated to look like Mary Shelley. Davenport sat at the other end of the couch, sipping at a glass of red wine and reading one of his parenting books in order to try to gain more methods on how to get his motley crew in order but in actuality never really worked. Taako was in the kitchen, baking something that smelled warm and chocolaty, and adding to the calming mood. The only ones missing of the seven were Lup and Merle, and the latter was probably in his room smoking some of the marijuana that he previously fucked and that none of the others would now touch. (Yeah, his weed was the best- but considering that he put his dick in it, they all went to different sources now).

The plane that they had landed in this cycle was a real quiet one- the beings who had lived in this plane were the exploratory type, yet had a mythological hubris about them. Because everyone- every living being- on the plane was gone. All that was left were the buildings, books, stone relics which related to some very powerful arcane rituals, evidence of life that was in the form of anything but life itself. Oh, wait, there was grass, and other vegetation, but none of it's actually growing or alive- it's just, existing. Like a plastic Candlenights bush. Why was this plane like this, the seven lost researchers asked? It was the original inhabitants' mythological hubris taken to scientific levels- the plane of magic was now sliced through the material plane like a nasty scar. The Starblaster Crew didn't know how they had managed it, nor how it wiped out all the non-plant life, they only knew that they had a whole plane to themselves for a cycle once again. There was a sort of fairytale tragedy around it all.

(And no one new to torture with their 69 jokes).

The scene in the living room was not an uncommon one in the early days of the cycle, and it wasn't even uncommon for Lup to burst in shouting.

"ME AND LUCRETIA ARE FUCKING GETTING MARRIED THIS CYCLE," she yelled, causing everyone to jump and Davenport to spill his wine.  
"We are?" asked Lucretia, looking considerably scared and maybe a little excited.

There was a beat, as Lup locked eyes with Lucretia, then shot a look at her twin who was currently giving her a death glare while rapid fire tapping his foot. She leaned against the door, and rested her chin on her hand, and started visibly sweating. After a moment of thought, she clapped her hands and pointed at the two of them, saying;  
"So that's what I forgot to do this cycle."

"YEAH LULU, what the actual FUCK! You're gonna get hitched, but FINE, can't tell your BROTHER, your only living FLESH AND BLOOD-"

"Taako, Taako, c'mon," she was laughing, as were Magnus and Julia, "Listen- I goofed."

"No, fuck you- Julia?"

"Don't involve me!" she yelled, and Magnus buried his face in her hair thinking that he might cry from laughter. 

"You're my twin now."

"Nooooooo!" she yelled, the in a tiny voice between giggles, "You're an asshole!"

"Do you at least have a ring for me, my love?" asked Lucretia, mischievous, "because you're the one who fucked up the proposal now."

"Yeah, yeah, it's in my room- I'll do the real thing I planned later," she said, waving her fiance off.

"When?"

There was no response, just a wink, finger guns, and a cocky smile, as the dark haired high elf sauntered back to her dorm. Taako huffed, and grabbed a jar of cashew butter (his allergy being to peanuts, and his twin's to tree nuts, it a was equally balanced nut war between the two), and began to mutter something about chemical warfare. As he started marching in the direction in which Lup left, Julia jumped up startling Magnus out of his cuddle position to intercept him.

"No, no, just- go make some amaretto cookies, I'll go nag her," she said, arms outstretched to prevent the wizard from taking anymore steps further.

He huffed, grumbled a bit, but, not wanting to fight with a woman over six foot and beefier than Magnus Burnsides, he relented, and turned back around to the kitchen to do just that. Julia, relieved, then left the room to follow Lup, ruffling her boyfriend's hair as she went.

"That wine was over three hundred years old and belonged to my grandfather," said Davenport, just staring at the new stain on the carpet.

"You say that about every wine," replied Lucretia dryly, "Now, Maggie, could you please help me plan my wedding? I don't trust Lup or Taako to do it because they're, hm, well- imbeciles."

"Heard that!"

The next few weeks on the ship were ones of parties and preparations- Taako had quickly forgiven his sister after a few meals were tree nuts were the primary ingredient, Lucretia was full-on directing what needed to be done for the wedding, Magnus was building a fucking gazebo, Merle was in charge of decorations that "for the love of all that's good don't include any of your plants" along with the reception, Julia was working with Lup on the dopest bachelorhood party ever, and Davenport was officiating the whole thing. The bride-to-be and her twin brother occasionally went off on their own, leaving the other five to their own wedding plans. Today was one of those days, just about a week before the wedding itself. Magnus was sanding down some of the pillars, priming them to be varnished over.  
"I figured a romantic guy like you would have painted this thing as white as snow," said Julia, spooking Magnus a lil as she sauntered over quietly. 

"Well," he said, before turning quickly and catching her in his arms, his girlfriend giggling in his arms, sharply pointed tail swishing, "you've got to appreciate the fine wood here, and keep it in it's natural state. This is some dark cherry oak wood, so it's real sturdy and should las-"

"I'd like our gazebo to be as white as snow," said Julia quietly, a far off look in her eyes, "Lucretia is going to paint a mural of the sun and the moon- her and Lup, their love story, into the ceiling, and I'm going to help her."

Magnus was quite for a moment, adding that to his mental list of "The Most Absolutely Fucking Perfect Wedding For Me and My Banging' GF" list. 

"I'd like to carve our love story into ours," he said, his eyes not leaving her face, her horns gracefully reflecting the sunlight. She looked back down at him, the far away look staying there in for a moment before she broke into a grin, and threw her head back laughing. 

"You mean to tell me you want to carve in the exact moment we met, when I beat you arm wrestling and you cried?" 

"I cried because I knew I met the love of my life, fuck off!" 

She kept laughing, and they touched their foreheads. Magnus laughs with her, and thinks that he could be content to just stay like that forever, this soft moment of love, his family at peace and ready to celebrate. They quiet down, and stay in that scene for a moment, eyes looking at each other softly, smiles upon their lips, sun glowing warm over the human and the tiefling in his arms. 

"Maggie, can you give me the best day ever the day after tomorrow, please?"

The question catches him off guard, but he doesn't pry. Doesn't everyone deserve a best day ever? He'd love to give his family the best day ever, everyday if he could. He'd like to go to a pound and give all the dogs there the best day ever. 

"Can do, sugar-roo!," he affirms, and he kisses her and she kisses him and they don't let go until somehow Merle comes by and yells at them to get a room. Julia left, and Magnus got to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dont get on me at the "lesbians are useless" comment im a fucking lesbian and i know exactly what im doing so you know what? bite me.  
> also i realized halfway thru writing this it isn't exactly magnus and julia centric but cmon, disaster bi lup and her (somewhat) functional lesbian wife are too much fun to write


End file.
